Golden Memories
---- ---- "ARMON. YOU GOT A PACKAGE." "LEAVE IT ALONE. I'M COMING DOWN NOW." Armon screamed as he scrambled through the hallways, reaching the staircase and flying down its railing. Karina watched with a playful smile intact as Armon hurried down to get his mail, thinking that whatever made Armon come down in such a hurry was probably something he didn't want her to see. The pace of his footsteps that echoed through the halls of the house hinted to something naughty being in the box, an opportunity for Karina to embarrass her little cousin with. As Armon was coming closer, Karina decided to make a break for it and dashed through the front door with the package held tightly in one arm. She already knew that Armon was bound to catch up to her, but she might as well have for fun for now. Besides, it had been a while since the two had the chance to play tag. "JESUS, KARINA. WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM." Armon screamed out in the distance whilst Karina continued to run. It wouldn't have been such a big deal, but it being seven oclock in the morning meant that neighbours probably weren't going to enjoy this. A black cloak draped down behind Armon's back and reached the ground as Armon made his way out into the front, cracking his knuckles and his neck side to side while keeping an eye on his escaping target. "Alright then. We'll play. Just don't cry when I catch you though Karina." he thought with a devilish smile, simultaneously the cloak broke apart and shifted into four large limbs that arched around Armon, lifting him just above the ground with his feet dangling. In one propelled motion, the Black Cloak's limbs began to gallop towards Karina, moving through the traffic and gently climbing over parked cars at the side to reach his cousin. While Karina had to move onto the sidewalk and dodge incoming morning joggers in her effort to escape, Armon had no problem facing the small amount of cars that were up this early, giving him an advantage of less obstacles to manoeuvre around. Flicking her attention from in front of her to the back, Karina saw that Armon was just as close as ever, enough for him to actually catch her and his parcel. "NICE TRY CUZ." She yelled before quickly switching route and turning a sharp corner into a nearby alleyway. Irritated, Armon rolled his eyes and directed his path towards the direction Karina disappeared into, with the large Black Cloak limbs shrinking as he neared the opening of the alleyway. Now on solid ground, Armon menacingly walked towards his cousin who was now trapped, blocked by a large wall that pinned her in place. She could either fight back and hope she could get an opening to run through, or peacefully hand over the package and end their morning exercise. Karina only had a few seconds to decide as Armon was quickly pacing closer to her, his arms out wide by his sides getting ready to pull in and grab Karina. Panicking, Karina walked back into the wall to create more distance between her and Armon, feeling her back press up against the cold brick stones that delivered shivers down her spine. "...Nowhere to run. And nowhere to hide. Hand over the parcel Karina and we can leave as cousins." Armon threatened, the black cloak on his back turning into multiple arms that stretched around him to face their target. "Are you sure you're training to become a hero? Sure you're not heading in the other direction?" Karina nervously smiled, trying to lighten the mood due to how tense the situation had become. "YOU CAN PRY THIS PARCEL FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS, I'LL NEVER GIVE IT TO YOU." she screamed dramatically as if she was playing a game of pretend heroes with Armon. Armon knew exactly what Karina was thinking and smiled back, copying the same dramatic level she used for her voice. "THAT CAN BE ARRANGED." He screamed back, followed by a maniacal laugh that sent the black arms racing towards Karina, heading from every direction. "Are you sure you're training to become a hero?" Karina exclaimed whilst breaking character for a moment, repeating her words from befre. Although the arms were quite overwhelming to see wave towards her, she took a deep breathe in and closed her eyes, hoping that something else would be able to save her. Surprisingly, the crashing wave of arms had not reached Karina, as what laid in front of her was a large black barrier that swept out across her front. It was doing well in holding back Armon, but Karina didn't want to wait around and see how long it could resist, taking the opportunity to look for anything to escape with. Karina realised that there was nothing she could use, and Armon really had her stuck. He had changed from the small social outcast to a promising hero in the time he's spent in the states with her, watching him grow has been one of her prides and joys and she couldn't be anymore happier. After all the training that Armon put himself through, it was only fair that he would turn out as strong as he was today. "That's my little cuz." she smiled to herself. ---- "You didn't need to get that violent you know." Karina sighed as she held an icepack on the top of her head. Sitting in the middle of the living room, laid out on the couch in front of the television, Karina waited while looking up at the ceiling fan that was turning gently around. It wasn't on or anything, as the cold breeze of the outside was let in battle against the heat of the raging fireplace not too far from the recent graduate. Besides, Karina liked it this way although the same couldn't be said for the rest of the family living here. "Ugh. I said sorry! I just got a little carried away..." Armon exclaimed frustratedly, rushing back into the living room with a tray held by both hands. The tray was holding a bowl of cereal and milk, a large glass of orange juice and a small plate with stacked hashbrowns. Armon obviously couldn't help himself from the fried potatoes as there were crumbs still hanging around his mouth, which he tried to hideaway by holding the tray close to his face. He made his way across the tan coloured carpet in just his bare feet, still wearing the pyjamas that he had rushed outside in, but this time now baring two rips in the back of the top. An unfortunate price to pay for his quirk but Armon barely even wears a shirt to sleep anyway. As soon as he felt the soft texture of the carpet envelop his feet, Armon began to take his time to ensure he didn't spill the orange juice onto the ground, with Karina patiently waiting for him to clumsily fall over and make a mess. Armon noticed the sly look on Karina and smirked, "How's your head?" "Fine. What was in the package?" She smirked back. Reaching Karina without dropping a single crumb from the platter, Armon slowly and carefully situated the tray onto her stomach, preventing her from sitting back upright without spilling breakfast all over herself. The Black Cloak from before quickly dropped from Armon's back and onto the carpet before splitting into a pair of long, thin limbs. At the same time, both strayed off in different directions with one heading for the living room's entrance and the other for the open window. Shutting the window brought an uncomfortable look washing over Karina's face, but it quickly changed when the other limb had retracted back with the parcel held on tightly. Armon clapped his hands and held them out for the limb to deliver it, watching as the box fell softly into his palms and then proceeded to return to Black Cloak's neutral form. "Thought we both could take a look." Armon chuckled as he approached the couch and sat on the edge, just in front of Karina's outstretched legs. "Besides, I guess it'll be payback for going all out like that before." "Psssh. Whatever. Just show us what's in the box." Karina shrugged off with an excited tone, wanting to see what Armon was so determined to apprehend from her minutes ago. Feeling around the edges of the box for an opening, the slippery texture of tape seemed to be the only thing his fingers could trace. Armon held the parcel up to his face and turned it around slowly, making sure to take his time to spot any decent areas he could exploit. Karina watched as Armon awkwardly rotated the parcel close up, pressing her chin onto her chest due to the tray that sat on her belly. If Armon hadn't carelessly placed it there she would have already snatched the box and ripped it open to see the goods. Tapping her fingers on the couch, Karina lifted an eyebrow to express some emotion of impatience. "Oh yeah take your time Armon." Armon looked back at Karina from the corner of his eye, his being surrounded by a dark tone as soon as he stared down at her. "Hypocrite." He mumbled under his breathe, almost as if he knew exactly what Karina was thinking at the time. After a few moments of twisting and turning, Armon was able to locate a small slit where the tape had slightly come off from the cardboard. Digging his finger into the opening, Armon levered his finger back and forth to make the hole bigger, pushing back the tape so that the rest of his fingers could fit in aswell. With a few seconds passing, Armon managed to open the box at the cost of splitting it in two due to the way he opened it. Styrofoam peanuts exploded all over the room and even into the breakfast tray, dipping into the orange juice and cereal bowl where it floated sadistically. While a confused Armon was still trying to process what had happened because of how fast the moment went, Karina took a deep breathe in and lifted the breakfast tray from her stomach, standing up and placing the platter back down on where she lied down originally. "Happy now Armon? Look at the mess you've cau-" Karina didn't have the time to finish her sentence as what was left in Armon's hands was a mask designed like a skull. Very dark in colour yet the details were very fine as if they glowed on the mask's face. Two flat cylindrical filters were planted on both sides of the skull, with a a pair of thick glass lens in each eye socket. Armon felt the curves and edges of the mask as he proceeded to analyse it, feeling the solid density that the masked was weighed down by. He continued to admire the front for a good few minutes whilst Karina stood there in the same awe as her cousin. As if just by sight, Armon knew exactly what this mask was, and the bigger picture settled in. This mask was more than just a piece of equipment to obscure his identity with, but a symbol of the start of his life as a Pro-Hero. Words and sentences rushed through Armon's mind while he sat there gazing at the mask, his jaw having dropped down to his chest and his whole body frozen in the moment. Karina stood there knowing exactly what it was without Armon telling her, besides, how could she not see that it looked similar to the mask Armon wore for his previous hero costumes. This improvement to his hero suit was a sign that he finally grew up, and was in the final stages of preparing for his future days as a professional hero. Karina became overwhelmed with joy that she lost control of her knees for a moment, dropping to the ground in front of Armon who still stared down at the mask. Minutes of silence passed by as the two cousins remained stationary, their eyes fixated on Armon's new hero mask, with time slowly passing by around them. "...I'm. Graduating. This year. And next year." Armon's voice trembled as he tried to form a sentence, for his mind was still in shock and in the process of summarising what had just happened. Karina instantly broke out of her zombielike gaze as soon as Armon's voice pierced her ears. All she could do was smile back at her cousin and place both her hands on the front of the mask. "You'll become a Pro-Hero." she finished his sentence before reaching in and hugging Armon. Armon remained unfazed as Karina's arms locked around him, only to do the same seconds after when placing the mask beside his seat. "It's all happened so fast. It's felt like just yesterday I've moved to the states." Armon thought out loud, baring a nervous smile open on his face. "Same." Was all Karina could say as she gently pulled herself off Armon, dusting off his shoulders before looking right at Armon at eye level. "Y'know what? I can take a day off. First days are usually just orientations and all that shindig at the agencies, so why don't we just head to the diner for lunch eh?" Karina offered, baring a smile that outmatched Armon's by a mile. "Yeah, easy. I'll go for that." Armon excitedly nodded his head, turning around to grab the mask off the seat before turning back to face Karina. "Just hope you aren't missing out on anything important for my sake." "Eh shut up. I need a break and I don't think I'm just quite ready for my first day as a proper hero. If you're not going to do it for yourself, then just do it for me 'kay?" Karina rolled her eyes, nudging Armon with her elbow in a playful manner before lifting herself up and heading out of the living room. "Oh and I don't think I want to take the car there today. Reckon we could just use our quirks to get to the diner instead." Karina pointed out, looking back at her cousin as she was just about to disappear around the corner of the doorway. "Sure. How 'bout make it a race?" Armon added on, shrugging his shoulders while pulling himself off from the couch. "Loser pays for the other person's meal?" "Deal. Better hope I'm not too hungry when we get there cuz." Armon rolled his eyes after Karina disappear around the corner, taking a deep sigh before shifting his gaze up towards the ceiling fan, now every so slightly swaying back and forth. Time had went by so fast for him that he almost couldn't believe that he was nearly done. He looked around the living room and scanned over its design, and of the four-five years he's spent living with his cousin, nothing has changed. Back in Australia, everytime he would look up to the ceiling it would be a new one every year, it felt like he was bound to have everything around him change. But here in the states, the ceiling has always stayed the same. ---- Karina and Armon stood casually outside in the front of the house, with Armon already having his Black Cloak out behind his back. Karina was busy fiddling with a metal watch that she had received as a Christmas gift, twisting and turning certain dials and handles to adjust its time to the current. Armon took this as the opportunity to begin stretching his muscles, going off with basic moves that he could easily stop when the race began. "Alright. I think I got it." Karina exclaimed while wrapping and fastening the watch to her wrist. "Took your time." Armon smiled as he approached and stood beside Karina. The two cousins looked straight ahead at the street laid out in front of them, their house was facing a suburban shopping strip that had plenty of civilians walking around, in and out of the stores. He looked at all the possible visible routes he could take, but the easiest ones seemed to be over the rooftops if he was going to use his quirk. Armon looked over to Karina and noticed that she was looking over to the sides just outside the border of the shopping strip. Strange if she was considering to take that route instead, as she would have to travel extra distance to weave out and in from the outside to get to the diner. Nonetheless, it was clear that the Guintos weren't going to risk running through the busy street for the race. "Thirty dollar spending limit each?" Armon asked with a nervous smile. Karina waved it away and giggled, "Too late to add onto the conditions cuz." "Well it was worth a try I suppose." Armon sighed while shrugging, "Just hope I've got enough in my wallet to pay for us both..." The two took their marks and lowered their stance into a ready position, with the otherside of the shopping strip being their target. Karina had her foot slightly more forward than Armon's, but he didn't see it as anything too advantageous. Both cousins looked at eachother with a determined and excited look plastered on their faces, giving a playful smile to the other before turning their attention back forward. "One." "Two." "THREE." They yelled in unison. Karina and Armon sped off into the distance, with Karina splitting off and heading to the outskirts of the shopping strip. Armon could see this from his peripheral vision and continued on his way, splitting his Black Cloak into four large limbs that immediately grappled onto the top of a shorter nearby building. Getting up was the easy part as he swung himself high into the air, getting a good sight of the diner on the other side, yet no Karina to be seen. Landing on the cement rooftop on both his feet, Armon wasted no second getting his breathe in order to continue moving, using his Black Cloak to elevate and grapple onto the other rooftops. His motions were graceful, all as if it was some dance with the moves softly blending into eachother. With all four limbs doing their part, Armon really didn't have to do any moving from his physical body besides watching where he was heading. Armon began developing a sort of galloping motion, reminiscent to his pace from earlier this morning, leaping from rooftop to rooftop over the busy public on the ground. The diner was always in sight with each building he climbed over, and Armon got closer to a potentially paid lunch. He had a few more buildings to navigate over before he could call the race finished, but there was still no sight of Karina anywhere. If they went by car, Armon and Karina could have arrived in five or so minutes, or in a rough ten minutes if they had decided to walk. It was good that he was using his quirk outdoors in the public, with this race sort of acting like a simulation of some sort. The size that his Black Cloak had broken apart into made sure that he wasn't spending more than a few seconds over each rooftop, levering him over them and throwing him forward so that he would land on yet another limb. Building after building, the diner was finally close enough for Armon to finish the race in one final move. Stopping midway on a nearby building at the end of the block, the Black Cloak limbs gathered themselves into one spot before pulling Armon into them, violently shooting Armon at an angle headed for his destination. The air rushed past his face with the Black Cloak quickly transforming into a set of black wings, that spread out and helped him glide downwards. "Weird. No sign of Karina still." As he drifted back onto the ground gently, Armon looked left and right to find his cousin, yet there was no red haired girl top be found in sight. Landing on the concrete footpath just outside the diner's windows, Armon continued to look around for Karina coming from the outskirts, still thinking that she had taken the "long" route to get there. Armon pulled out his phone from his back pocket and turned its lock screen on, seeing that only six or so minutes had just passed since the race started. He allowed a few minutes to pass just incase Karina was just late, but after a moment of pondering, Armon got worried. Unlocking the phone and dialling in Karina's number, Armon brought the phone to his ear as he walked into the diner, using his shoulder to push open the door whilst listening to his phone. "OI LOSER. YOU OWE ME LUNCH." The familiarity of the voice caught Armon off guard, prompting him to look to the direction of the voice and see who it was. There, already sitting at one of the tables with a large plate of food laid out in front was Karina, halfway into her meal with crumbs scattered on her side of the table's surface. Letting out a defeated groan, Armon walked up to the table with an exaggerated depressed slouch, mumbling indistinctive words under his breathe. Karina just laughed at her cousin's response to her victory, happily munching through what was left on her plate before Armon took his seat across. He looked at her with heavy eyes and planted his face onto the table, not noticing the waitress that had walked up to take his order after noticing his arrival. Karina leaned over and tapped Armon on the shoulder before turning to the waitress and smiling. "How much was your meal Karina?" Armon asked in a weakened tone, his voice muffled due to his face pressed onto the table. Karina cringed while softly pulling her collar from her neck, "Twenty something?" she said in a nervous tone. "I'll just have a water then..." Armon said, moving his face to the side so that he was facing the waitress' direction. "If it's free of course. If I gotta pay, don't worry about it." The waitress lazily scribbled into her notepad and left without uttering a word, Armon didn't mind, the kind of service where there didn't need to be any sort of talk inappropriate to the situation was the kind of the service he liked. Armon sat back right up and looked at his cousin with a dirty look, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand while yawning loudly. Karina lost her smile as soon as she saw Armon like this, knowing well that he was going to try get back at her some time later. The waitress returned with a large glass and a jug of ice lemon water in both hands, neatly placing them on the table in front of Armon. Giving a simple nod as an expression of thanks, Armon proceeded to pour himself a glass of water all the way up to the brim, before slowly picking it up and skulling the whole drink in one go. Karina sat there unimpressed and stared out the window, watching the cars and people that passed by. The view outside the diner hadn't seemed to change that much in the years that Armon and her began going there. The only significant things that changed where the shop fronts that ran along the shopping strip. Occasionally, Armon and Karina would notice a familiar face in the window walking by, whispering to eachother about things they knew about them. Their area in Houston wasn't very big with a pretty small community of residents. Everyone had some link to eachother through a chain of acquaintances and friends, with Karina knowing all the neighbours pretty well to consider them friends of her own. Despite this, Armon still had this empty feeling in his chest, the same that had carried over since his time in Australia. He continued to pour himself glasses of lemon water and skulling them down, doing so until the whole jug was emptied out. The feint citrus taste in the water was always something that Armon both found interesting and strange, with an innate attraction to prompt him to continue drinking it. "Go to the restrooms before we go yeah. Don't want to risk you making a mess of yourself on the way home." Karina ordered as she dropped her knife and fork onto her now empty plate. If it wasn't for how busy and loud the diner already was, she was bound to get a few looks from the surrounding customers for her noisy attitude. "Piss off. I'm not a kid anymore." Armon retorted, picking up the jug and pouring air into his glass. Karina leaned back into her seat and smiled, placing both hands on top of her stomach with a satisfied sigh. Turning her head to the window, she looked up the sky and noticed a plane flying over their area with a familiar logo on its back end. Despite how high up it was in the sky, anyone could recognise this company brand from a mile away. It was with this recognition that Karina's comfortable facial manner turned into a subtle scowl. "Something wrong cuz?" Quickly turning her head to face Armon, Karina's expression changed back midway as if to play off everything as calm. Stretching her arms outward and giving a loud yawn, Karina reached one of her arms hanging over behind her seat and the other out onto the table."Nah. Nothing. Nothing. Don't worry." She replied with a shaky confident chuckle. Armon's eyebrow raised on an doubtful look, squinting his eyes at Karina to try and see past her act. "There is, isn't there." "Whaaat. Noooo. Go away." She shooed at Armon, trying her best to keep a strong, confident face on. Armon looked with squinting eyes at her again, leaning over the table so his face was at eye level with Karina's. "Prove it. Say something." "Okay?" Karina shrugged, "I'm completely fine." "No. Say the word, something." Armon waved off, slamming both hands on the table to intimidate Karina. The diner was still busy as before, so his noisey manner was left unnoticed by the other patrons eating around them. Karina began to lean further back into her seat having a worried look in her eye that didn't match up to her face. "No. Why would I thay that?". As soon as she heard her own words, Karina slapped her hand over her mouth to hide her gasp. "I fucking knew it..." Armon muttered under his breathe, shaking his head in disappointment. "You're too easy to catch when you're lying." Rolling her eyes at Armon's efforts, Karina held her hand up into the air while wiping the crumbs that fell onto her lap onto the floor with her other. At once, a waitress different from before approached their table with a notebook in hand, noticing that everything on the table was empty. "Can I get you guys anything else?" she asked in a happy, polite manner. "Nah, we're ready to pay." Karina answered in an equally polite manner. Nodding at Karina, the waitress tucked the notebook into her back pocket and picked up the empty jug and plate from the table, followed by Armon and Karina who got out of their seats in unison. Both walked side by side to the front counter with Armon already taking his wallet out of his front pocket to pay for the meal, pulling his credit card out to immediately swipe so that the both can leave. After a few dials and beeping from the counter, both Guintos could happily leave the diner, one feeling well fed. Armon was too scared to look at the receipt and shoved it into the bottom of his pocket, patting the pocket gently to feel if it was still there. Rather than going through the busy shopping strip, the two cousins strayed off their typical path and went around, similar to how Karina seemingly travelled to the diner during the race. What lied on this particular route was a large park with a small lake in the middle, coloured with the cluster of ducks that have chosen to float on the water to catch bits of bread that fell into it. Both Karina and Armon had fond memories of the park, as they would usually come here to practise using their quirks when they were younger. Every inch of grass that made up the park had been touched either of the cousins, as their constant sparring had them fighting all over the grounds when there were very little to no people there. A wave of nostalgia rushed over Armon while bringing a calm smile to his face, as glimpse of the memories made here flashed in his mind. Karina herself was feeling quite nostalgic herself although for other old memories of her high school days. Finding an empty park bench that was close enough to the pond, Karina and Armon let out a loud relaxed sigh as they took their seat. "It's nice you know to come back here occasionally. Guessing with all your studies, you haven't found the time to retreat to the park for once in a while?" Karina asked, leaning back into the seat with both arms crossed behind her head. "It's been a while sure. But there are better places to train than out in public." Armon responded while he positioned himself to slouch forward in a comfortable manner. Karina raised an eyebrow in confusion as she turned to face Armon. "Is sparring the only memories you've got of this place?" she asked in a surprised tone. Armon tilted his head to the side and looked up to the sky, trying to think of any other moment spent in the park that wasn't sparring with Karina. After a brief moment of silence, Armon shook his head in defeat and resumed his original posture. "Maybe. Can't really remember any notable ones that don't involve us fighting. I probably have some sort of 'memory' but I don't know whether its true or a figment of my imagination." "Aw. That's a bit disappointing..." Karina sighed, looking back at the pond whilst taking in the sun's rays. "I can think of so many memories we've made that aren't fighting." "Really. Enlighten me then cuz." Karina rolled her eyes and pulled herself from her relaxed position, leaning forward while using her leg to support her arm. "Unlike you, I can remember the most important one. This is the place we first met when you came to the states from Australia. Don't you remember?" "I guess I do..." Armon unenthusiastically responded, reaching down to grab a pebble that was leaning on the front leg of the park bench. "Weird story that was. Embarrassing too. No wonder I don't remember because I've been suppressing it for all these years." His response brought a small smile to Karina's face as she still stared at the lake infront of them. The two sat there soaking in the rays of sun whilst the noise of families laughing and children running around played in their ears. Karina was glad she could take the first day off to be here with her cousin, as generally the only times both cousins cross paths are at breakfast and dinner, but as of late she could only expect to see Armon at breakfast once she got really into her new job. A brief image of Armon's new mask appeared in Karina's mind as she began to think of her new life, realising that there was a possible chance that the both of them might not even see eachother at all once he's graduated. Armon has become more than just a cousin, but one of Karina's best friends, and she could only wish that she had made more memories with him during their time together in T.S.J. "Hey Karina?" "Yeah Armon?" "You reckon they'd take me into your agency once I've graduated?" "...Nah. You're pretty shit." "Thanks." "Your welcome." ---- Category:One-Shot Stories